Thursday, February 23, 2012

The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) swings back into action this weekend with the 2012 San Diego Open. But IRT #1 Kane Waselenchuk is again absent from the event due to the back injury that he picked up at the California Open and prevented him from finishing the New York City Pro-Am. This will be the second consecutive IRT event that Waselenchuk has missed, as he also missed the Salt Lake City event earlier this month.

Although Waselenchuk isn't there, his withdrawal came after the draw was made public, and by IRT rule he must remain in the draw. Thus, some lucky qualifier is going to get a walkover win against him in the Round of 16.

The highest seeds in the top of the draw are Jose Rojas (#4) and Chris Crowther (#5), but they'll likely meet in the quarter finals, with the winner going to the semi-finals against - at best - the 8th seed.

Charlie Pratt is the 8th seed, and he'll have a good chance to make his first semi-final, as he'll only have face qualifiers to get to the semis. Those toughest of those will likely be 9th seed Tony Carson, who could also be set up for the semis if he can beat Pratt.

All the big matches prior to the final will be on the bottom of the draw, as the Salt Lake City finalists - Ben Croft and Rocky Carson - and semi finalist - Shane Vanderson - as well as Alvaro Beltran, will all be slugging it out to get to the final.

The most interesting potential qualifying matches will be the all Mexico battle of Javier Moreno and Polo Gutierrez, and the Alex Landa and Taylor Knoth match, which will grant the winner a pass to the quarter finals. Both Landa and Knoth do have to beat someone to set that up, and for Landa that might be former IRT #1 Sudsy Monchik.

What a difference a week can make

Last week, we wrote about how Jeremy Lin reminded us of Waselenchuk, but now that an injury is keeping Waselenchuk out of yet another tournament, we're not thinking of Lin but rather Peyton Manning, the NFL quarter back who sat out all of last season due to a neck injury.

One injury can end an athletic career, and while we trust that is not the case with Waselenchuk, his injury does remind us that the difference between greatness and mediocrity can be very small.

The IRT Network will be web-casting the San Diego Open matches beginning Thursday February 23 at 8 PM PST.